Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Heading home from Las Vegas is always a somber experience. Your body is broken. The amount of damage you have done to your body is irreparable. The sleep deprivation has reached it's peak. The diet of fast food and alcohol has twisted your intestines into a giant ball of pain and guilt. You're aching to go home in the worst way but it's not going to come easy.

This year we decided it would be a good idea to go straight to the airport from the club without any sleep. Sure, this is common practice for most leaving Vegas but we weren't boarding a flight. No no; we were at the airport to pick up our rental car. A Dodge Voyager Minivan to be exact. Anticipating endless rows of traffic we left Vegas early that Memorial Weekend Sunday but were happily (groggily) surprised to find the highways clear and free of congestion.

We made it to the City of Angels with time to spare and decided to kill (cherish) our last hours with each other in the sleepy beach town of Manhattan Beach. I've never had the pleasure of visiting the surfer's hideaway myself and I really enjoyed it's laid back vibe. I of course took the opportunity to snap some photos. I couldn't have thought of a better way to cap off an another amazing trip to Las Vegas. It brought us all back to the planet Earth and gave us a chance to slow down for a few moments and enjoy something truly authentic and real.

Monday, July 9, 2012

I don't enjoy taking photos of Las Vegas. It's all so phoney to me! The buildings are replicas, the people are plastics and the city is cluttered with tourists and headcases!
At least that's what I used to think. On my most recent trip to Las Vegas I really gave Vegas a shot and I actually managed to have a good time shooting photos of the buildings and the people that inhabit them. When you look past all the clutter, the gimmicks and the hoopla, you start to see that Vegas actually does have a personality and a culture all it's own. The next few posts will feature photos from the Sin City. Please enjoy!

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Living in downtown has certainly come with its ups and downs. One thing that I do enjoy though is my direct proximity to excellent architecture and subjects for street photography. One thing that I hated about living in the suburbs is that I was never inspired to pick up my camera and snap some photos of my surroundings. Living downtown has re-opened my eyes and I'm constantly on the lookout for subjects to take photos of! Night photo walks are my favourite. The streets are quiet and the city lights up with new perspectives.

Talking about new perspectives, the new Peace Bridge in our city is a definite challenge to photograph. It has been shot to death and finding a new perspective is not easy. I finally decided to give the Peace Bridge a shot one night and packed my 35mm f/1.4L and a tripod in an attempt to see the bridge from a different angle. I laid on my back and my belly. I tried to focus on more obscure sections and even climbed underneath the red beast. The results were good but I'm certain that with some study and recon, I can do a little more.

The proof is in the pudding.. let me know what you think!

And now a little bit of black and white to chill your retinas out after all of that red!

Friday, June 1, 2012

I've been sitting on these photos for over a month now. Sorry for the delay, but the month of May turned out to be hella busy! But without any further adieu, may I present to you Freak Motif! A few good friends of mine from high school are members of Calgary's most exciting funk act and asked if I could come out to enjoy their latest show. I happily obliged and thought it would be a nice favor to take a few photos of the band while they performed to a packed crowd at Local 522. Enough chit chat; here are the photos!

If you're able to catch these guys, I would highly suggest it! Freak Motif is pure musical fusion; improvisation at its finest! I hope you liked the photos. It was dark as hell in Local and the only light source was a single red spot light. There are some gems in there though. Check out my Flickr to see more photos that are posted in the blog.
STV

Who am I?

I am stv and I am a camera junkie. My perspective on life has changed since I have picked up a camera. I was searching for a project and a way to enhance my skills; this blog is a means for satisfying both goals. Please enjoy my attempt to share my passion for photography and life in general.